Bystander
by Rheallia
Summary: Post-RoTF: An Autobot chased by Decepticons brings news of an ancient weapon, leaving it up to the Autobots to save our world again. But nothing's easy when a bystander is involved.
1. Introductions

.:Bystander Ch. 1: Introductions:.

The black Topkick's engine rumbled, turning right onto on an empty street, just like the one he had come off of. Driving was one of the only things the black mech could do that would ease his boredom to some degree when he was trapped in the city. He would rather find something to blow to bits, 'Con or not, but the drive to find someplace where he would not draw the attention of curious human eyes was too long, and often too sandy.

Yes, driving seemed to relieve some of the dull, and very slow, passage of time. Seeing building after building after building, however, began to wear down on one's processor. Nanoclicks never passed by so slowly.

Normally Ironhide would be with the Lennoxes, spending time with the family who welcomed him with open arms (literally in the case of young Annabelle). However, the prospect of sitting in some relative's driveway stuck in alt-mode on this particular day was even less appealing than a day spent in the city.

Ironhide turned again, scanning the empty roads to make sure there was definitely no sign of humans nearby. He made one last turn onto a dirt path, the holographic chain with a 'Do Not Enter' sign flickering behind him. Although this base was nestled inside a maze of empty buildings and similar factories, precautions still had to be made. A lost tourist, for example, would find it strange to see a Camaro, Topkick, or Peterbilt leaving a supposedly empty factory.

Now, more than ever, the Autobots had to keep a low profile.

Pulling into the main 'room' of the factory via an open roller door, Ironhide transformed, stretching his stiff joints. He let out a puff of air from his vents.

"Back already, Ironhide? You must be bored." The observation came from the yellow-green medic, reading a data pad across the room.

"Of course." The Black mech grumbled, rolling his shoulder joints as he walked towards Ratchet. "We haven't been doing _anything_. Not since Egypt."

"Looking to slay some 'Cons? It's a shame you can't." Ratchet said rather nonchalantly, barely glancing at Ironhide. It was true. There had been no sighting of Decepticons since the event in Egypt which left one of the Wonders of the Ancient World in shambles. The lack of 'Cons afterword was good. No Con's meant no fighting, but it also allowed for the events in Egypt to blow over. It was getting even harder for the government to hide the Autobots' existence and a break meant they would garner little attention.

However, even if there had been appearances of Decepticons, the Autobots would not have been able to act much. Governments were discussing what they should do with their ally Transformers on Earth, whether or not they should continue to be allies with them or not. During this time the Autobots would be restricted slightly, since they had no definite form of support as of yet. Getting the warehouse took several months in itself.

The black mech snorted. "You'd think with such short lifespans humans would be quick decision maker. These negotiations with the government are moving too slowly."

"Give them time, Ironhide." Optimus's baritone voice came from a hallway, the mech himself having finally decided to leave the room that acted as his quarters in the warehouse. "The humans have a difficult decision to make regarding the future of their race. They need the time to make the choice that beset suits their needs."

"I understand that, Prime." Ironhide said crossing his arms over his chassis. "They're taking more time than needed for a problem with only one solution! If we were to leave Earth, undoubtedly the Decepticons would stay to harvest Earth for its resources. The planet has already made it onto Megatron's hate list, and he wouldn't hesitate to either control or destroy it. We're the best defense this planet has against Decepticons."

It was Ratchet's turn to snort. "This planet would have been slagged anyway even if the Allspark had landed on some other planet."

"I know, I know." Optimus sighed. He had already come to the same conclusion as his comrades. The only logical -and best ending- scenario to Earth's situation was for the Autobots to stay on Earth, and continue to work alongside the human soldiers of NEST.

It was only the stubborn bureaucrats who refused to give the Autobots peaceful asylum (or any asylum at all if they had their way). They refused to let their race become involved with Transformers regardless of faction.

Optimus just hoped they would allow the Autobots to stay.

"At least they allowed us to make use of this building." The Prime vented air again, pinching his nasal ridge between his digits- a human habit he had picked up.

"What are we doing here again?" Ironhide asked, grumbling.

"You're here guarding the Lennoxes while Will is on leave," Ratchet began, stating the obvious with slight annoyance, "Bumblebee uses this warehouse when he is not chauffeuring Sam around, and I'm monitoring Sam to see if there are any side effects from what occurred with the matrix in Egypt."

"You and I both know that's a load of slag." Ironhide scoffed. "It's been five Orbital Cycles and nothing's happened. Why are you _really_ here?"

A pause, and then, "I figured if the Chevy Twins and Sideswipe didn't have someone to pound out their dents after every stupid stunt they pulled they would eventually stop."

"Until you return, that is." Ironhide replied, the three mechs smirking, knowing full well the three notorious troublemakers would never give up their pranks nor their dangerous, if not stupid, stunts.

"I am training Mikaela as well," Ratchet continued, "Her background with mechanics and the right teaching could give me a very useful assistant."

"I can understand why you're here," Ironhide grunted, "But why are you here, Prime?"

The Prime shifted like he was looking for a reply. There really was no reason for him to be on the mainland. No missions, no meetings, no apparent reason for him to be there. Finally he admitted, "A break."

"A break from what?" Ironhide asked, confusion lightly flashing across his faceplates.

"Everything." Optimus sighed. "The humans are very demanding."

His two companions were sympathetic. Many of the human officials dealing with NEST were…difficult. Some wanted to enforce rules or guidelines that were rather unfair for the mechs and femmes on base; others were strict and wanted the Autobots to act with impeccable behavior. And then there where those who did not want to deal with the Autobots at all, who only saw them as weapons against the Deceptions and wanted them gone as soon as the 'Cons were. The liaisons and government officials had proved themselves stubborn, difficult and demanding.

Ratchet's optics narrowed. "You're not overworking yourself again, are you?"

"No, Ratchet." Optimus answered. Ratchet, however did not rest his scrutinizing gaze.

"I know you, Optimus. You're worse than Prowl sometimes."

"I am perfectly fine, Ratchet." The Prime retorted. "It_ is_ nice not to do anything for the time being."

"We're lucky the Con's haven't done anything since Megatron and Starscream hightailed it back into space." Ironhide granted us though he were _annoyed_ with the fact. No 'Cons meant no attacks, no casualties or damages, but the lag was brutal to the Autobots sometimes. There wasn't much for them to do on or off Diego Garcia. Thus the result was endless boredom (or in some cases endless pranks).

"This is going to be a long week with you, isn't it?" Ratchet sighed, refocusing his attention on his datapad.

"Could always do some target practice," the black mech suggested. "Preferably with moving targets."

Ratchet did not miss who Ironhide was suggesting play the role of the targets. Instead, without looking up at the datapad, he merely countered, "Or maybe we could do that maintenance check you skipped about a deca-cycle ago."

By the look on the weapon master's face, he had forgotten. Optimus tried to hide his snort of amusement with a cough-like noise, but he ultimately failed in his endeavor.

"Yours is coming up too, Prime." The medic informed him with a pointed look. Suddenly, Optimus was no amused.

_Slag_. He had forgotten, too.

* * *

><p>The young woman tossed in her bed, kicking off the last of her sheets onto the small mountain of others that spilled over the edge of her bed onto the floor. Kai had spent the last couple hours awake and uncomfortably <em>hot.<em> She was restless, her mind refusing to let her sleep in this late hour. The heat did not help much either.

"Screw this." She said, getting off of her bed. She refused to lie there all night if she was not going to get any rest.

Kai shrugged off her sleepwear, dressing in clothes more suitable for the day; jeans, socks, and a short-sleeved shirt. She had a thought of what she could do to ease her boredom. It was a whim really, something she had not done before but now had the opportunity to do so.

She exited her room, navigating the dark hallway. She did not care about avoiding the spots on the stairs that squeaked under the slightest pressure as she made her way downstairs. Her parents were gone, helping family.

Her Aunt Cheryl was moving to a state close to where Kai and her family resided. Kai's parents had gone to help, regretfully leaving the adolescent at home. Kai managed her way out of helping. It wasn't that she wouldn't mind helping, she just did not want to help during her school vacation. Sure, it was pretty selfish of her, but she really wanted time to relax without having to do any school work. Plus, she did have a job she needed to go to.

Kai grabbed her sweatshirt off of the railing, pockets loaded with her electronics, and pulled it on as she soured her feet into sneakers. Finally, she left her house, locking the door behind her.

The cool air outside betrayed the heat Kai felt in her bedroom. She pulled out headphones attached to the music player in her sweatshirt pocket, and stuffed the earbuds into her ears. Then she began to walk.

* * *

><p>It had traveled for a span of time it lost count of long ago. The journey began aimlessly, or rather with a purpose but no known destination. Finally, one orn it found the signal, a message. It began to follow.<p>

Thousands to millions of lightyears later it was still traveling, cramped into a smaller, more compact form than it was used to. A thick covering of dust and rock collected on its outer layer forming a shell-like crust of dirt. Sore, tired, and low on energy, it continued, no matter how uncomfortable it was. It continued to far-off sectors filled with unknown stars and planets, not knowing if it was even going to the right destination.

Finally, the signal lead to a single solar system in a spiraled galaxy. Nine planets, or maybe eight- it was not sure if the farthest one from the center was a very small planet or just a large ball of rock-, circled around a center star in this particular system. It was the third planet from the sun that captured its attention, where the signal had emanated from. The planet looked different than others it had seen before, blue with white misty swirls that sometimes allowed glimpses of brown or green on the surface. This planet was different, unique.

Orbiting around the planet it saw not only a moon but multitudes of metal satellites. It could detect no sentience in the steel structures, and they were not of natural formation nor did they appear to be of Autobot or Decepticon design. Were there sentient natives of the planet who created them?

Even though the satellites themselves were not self-aware, there was something that was. It had detected _something_ unlike anything it had encountered before. It accessed the thing with ease and its processor was immediately over flooded with a mass of information. It was taken by surprise by the sheer size of data this _thing _contained from millions of individuals. _Sentient _individuals.

Overcoming its initial shock, it began searching though the thing- the _internet. _This 'World Wide Web' had multiple uses from holding information to social interaction. It looked for a language, finding hundreds in the process, and began downloading information it thought would be useful.

Entering the pull of the planet, it let the world's gravity take a hold. She descended.

* * *

><p>My first multi-chapter fanfic :3<p>

Yes, there are OCs in this fic, but I'm trying to keep them from overrunning the story. There are only going to be three (save the unnamed cannon fodder).

I really wanted to establish this before DOTM came out, but yeah, I think I'm an hour late for the 3d premier :/

Enjoy! Reviews are loved!


	2. Meetings

A/N: Just to make a couple of things clear, this story takes about five to six months after ROTF, in late February. And because I keep on forgetting the darn things:

Disclaimer: Transformers is copyright Hasbro. I only own the characters Kamellia and Quicksilver.

Nanoklik= one second

Breem= about 8 minutes

* * *

><p>.: Bystander Chapter 2: Meetings:.<p>

A slight breeze just barely stirred the air around Kai as she walked. She had headed towards the outskirts of town where there would be very little to no traffic. Few residences existed in the area as most-of the land was uncultivated; sparse fields that eventually turned into dry, brown dust. It was peaceful out here.

The teenager guessed it was getting close to midnight, but she was still wide awake. All those mornings sleeping in must have caught up with her, she mused. Kai stretched her arms and smiled. She was definitely glad she had decided to come out for a walk. Though if she thought about it, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to take a stroll alone at night where nobody else was around. Whatever. She could blame her lack of judgment on her adolescent brain.

It was then that a light caught her eye, causing her to pause and look towards the night sky. A meteor streaked through the star-sprinkled heavens, a fiery tail following behind it.

"Whoa." Kai looked up wide-eyed at the meteor, awed. She had never seen so close in her sixteen years. The large celestial object had passed overhead in mere seconds before disappearing from sight, and yet there was already an idea forming in the young girl's mind. It would be a rare opportunity to actually see a space rock up close before whoever took it for research or whatever they did with meteors (or would that be a meteorite now?), and it appeared as though the flaming rock would land very close by.

Smiling, Kai took off after it.

* * *

><p>One of the worst things she hated about solo space traveling was re-entry. Dirt stilling clinging to her frame would be shaken loose into cracks, crevices and in between gears during the impact. It was irritating, uncomfortable, and <em>itchy<em>. It would be even worse if the landing site consisted of dirt itself.

Also, crashing into solid objects at high speed was not fun. Although it was not entirely painful, landing tended to jar stiff joints in a harsh manner. It often left her sore afterwards.

Shifting the many plates of her metal body, she stood fully upright in her bipedal mode. She stretched her stiff joints, grateful to be able to move freely again. She had spent far too much time traversing the vast expanse that was space.

She climbed out of the creator she had made while landing and took notice of her surroundings. She stood in a field filled with short, organic stalks; grass. No matter where she looked, there was more organic matter, from scrubby bushes to the taller, more slender trees. She had dealt with organic life before, but never in such large quantities. It covered the ground underneath her pedes in a thick carpet and continued as far as she could see in the darkness. Even the air was filled with organic life. Hundreds of tiny flying creatures darted in the air around her. If her small gather of information from the internet was anything to go by, these 'insects' were a mere iota of the creatures that made their home on this planet.

She was awed, overwhelmed that a planet smaller than her own home world of Cybertron could be so abundant with life, even if the vast majority was not sentient.

She shook her helm. Her amazement could wait for a later time; she had a job to do and she needed to _focus_. A dim light on the horizon caught her optics, indicating population nearby. She winced. Although she had wanted to land near the source of the signal she was following (which apparently was one of several) she did not mean to land so close to a populated area. From her cursory search on the World Wide Web, there was nothing that could fully prove her kind's existence. Well, on this planet at least, meaning she would have to stay unnoticed while on Earth. She just hoped she had not garnered any attention from landing so close the nearby population.

First the femme gathered her bearings, those same metal satellites she had encountered earlier supplying her with the information. She stood in the South-Western part of the United States of America. She snorted at the name. How _clever_. It was too plain and upfront for her tastes. Why couldn't they have chosen a more elegant name like Norway, China, or Haiti? United States sounded like a title, not a name. Simply America would have sufficed for her.

Despite her distaste for the name, the femme found herself pleasantly surprised to have landed so near to one of the signals' origins. Calculations, or plain luck, had landed her this close. Thank Primus she had not ended up in one of the enormous oceans or worse, stuck on another continent with no way to cross over.

The femme, however, would first have to choose a new designation for herself and find a suitable alternate mode before continuing her journey. Despite not wanting to grab the attention of humans, she would have to travel towards that small, populated area to find a new alt. mode. Apparently, the humans had to use machines called 'cars' or 'automobiles' to travel far distances. They were the ideal choice for an alt. mode. They were commonplace, had access to an enormous amount of areas, and they fit the femme's frame type; a grounder.

The femme began walking towards the town, hoping to find a place- a dealership as the humans called it- where she could find a vehicle mode suitable to her needs and styles. She also began translating her original Cybertronian name into human, playing around with word order and synonyms until she created a combination she liked as her new designation. She had also managed to locate several of those 'dealerships' on the eastern edge of the nearby town through the interne-

She stopped. Her scanners picked up something larger than the insects flying through the air. It was bigger. Much bigger. _Human_-sized. _Frag._

About thirty feet in front of her stood a human. She guessed it was of the female gender, with wide eyes and a face framed by long cranial hair and staring clearly back at the femme.

The femme was nearly afraid as the human was; frame freezing as her processor reeled trying to work out a solution for this new situation. Should she turn in the other direction and run and hope the human did nothing? Slag, what was she supposed to _do_ with her discovery? Take the human to the Prime if he even was on this planet?

Slowly the femme came up with a solution that would hopefully, _hopefully, _solve her predicament. This small human could jeopardize any operation that fellow 'bots may have established with the knowledge she now held. The femme knew nothing of protocols established on Earth. What if any humans who knew of their existence needed to be brought in front of her leader? If she let the human go now, she would have to track her down later, which would be fairly difficult considering there were nearly seven billion of the species living on the planet. And the femme knew far too little about Earth. A native guide _would_ be extremely useful. She hated her decision but it looked as though she did not have much of a choice.

She would have to bring the human with her.

The femme regained her composure, and slowly began crouching towards the ground, trying to me as less intimidating as possible. She was treating the human like a scared petro-rabbit, trying not to frighten the creature away. As she neared her, the human stumbled backwards a few steps, looking as though she might flee.

The femme took a deep intake of air and spoke.

"Greetings. I am Quicksilver, an Autonomous Robotic Organism."

The small human appeared too stunned to reply, her face a mixture of shock and fear. She seemed to flounder for a response before awkwardly squeaking out, "Uh, hi?"

"I hail from the planet Cybertron," Quicksilver continued, ignoring the human's plight, who was suddenly not so distressed anymore as she cut off the femme by blurting out:

"You mean you're an alien?" Apparently the idea piqued the human's interest enough to gain some confidence and speak without hesitation. At least it did not look as though she were going to flee anymore.

"Yes. I am what you call an 'extraterrestrial'." Quicksilver replied. "What is your designation?"

The human's face screwed up in confusion. "My what?"

Quicksilver's optics narrowed slightly. Did the human not understand the term? The word was English. Perhaps it was not as common as she first thought it was.

"Your..." the femme looked for a suitable synonym, "Name. What is your name?"

"Oh, uh, Kamellia." The human replied, regaining her earlier uncertainty. Quicksilver found it amazing how fast this human's- Kamellia's- emotions seemed to change.

"Kamellia." Quicksilver echoed, "I believe I am going to need your assistance."

"M-my assistance?" Kamellia repeated incredulously. "You need my _help_?"

"Yes. I am new to this planet and I do not know it well enough. It would suit me best to travel with someone who knows Earth." Quicksilver stood slowly, rising to her full height of sixteen feet. The human stepped back again so she could look up at the femme with greater ease. "You do not have to come if you do not wish. I will not force you."

Quicksilver began walking, heading in the direction of the town. The ground trembled with each step of her pedes.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Kamellia called after her, catching up to the femme who had passed her in a surprisingly short amount of time. She was leaving already? She hadn't even waited for Kamellia's answer! Of course the human was curious and wanted to learn more before her new acquaintance left for places unknown. The idea to go with was unbearably tempting.

"I need to find a suitable alternate mode that would enable me to blend into your culture." She answered.

"Blend in? But you're huge!" Kamellia exclaimed, before adding "No offence."

"Why should I take offence? I am unnaturally large for a sentient being on your planet." The little human had confused Quicksilver. She was huge compared to humans and that was a fact. Why would it be insulting?

The two continued walking together, Kamellia overcoming her initial shyness. She would run ahead of Quicksilver, turn around and ask questions before she fell behind the femme's larger strides again. And by Primus did the girl have a lot of questions. Yes, Quicksilver was a robot and no, she was not just some machine-like exoskeleton controlled by a little green man (whatever _that _was supposed to mean). No, she was not here to abduct humans nor was she here to take part in an alien invasion. No, she did not travel in a ship and yes, she had been the 'meteor'. There were very few of her species left in space and yes, some were the same size as her but height and build varied greatly.

The cycle of question lasted for several breems before the two reached the very outskirts of the town. There were the few automobile dealerships that Quicksilver had planned her route according to. And so she began searching for an alternate mode.

"You're looking for a _car_?" Kamellia asked, watching the femme, finding the situation extremely odd.

"Yes. Ground travel suits me well."

"I can't believe I'm car shopping with an alien." The human muttered to herself, standing a good distance away, looking off in another direction. Quicksilver snorted, causing Kamellia's head to whip back towards the femme.

"You heard that?" she asked, shocked and slightly embarrassed.

"I did." Quicksilver said, smirking slightly. Apparently humans' hearing was not as sensitive as Cybertronians'. By this time, Quicksilver had narrowed down her vehicle choices based on mass and style. She knew she shouldn't be picky about her alt. mode, but she wanted to splurge this one time. She was not the most vain 'bot ever to exist, but she, like most others, did care about the appearance of her alt. mode and the armor that would form as a result. Plus, she had been stuck in her transition from for a very long time, so she felt she deserved to treat herself even if it did mean sacrifice a bit of discreetness. She _was_ leaning towards the more expensive 'sports' cars.

It took Quicksilver a couple of nanokliks to realize her human companion was no longer near her. Caught in her decision making, she had not noticed the human wandering away. Quicksilver scanned the vicinity, hoping that the human hadn't decided to run off (which Quicksilver was surprised she did not try to do in the first place). Instead she found the young female looking at one of the dealership buildings holding some small, plastic device in front of her and aiming it towards a large window. The femme walked towards her, but Kamellia did not look towards the source of the heavy pede-steps, her attention focused slowly on the device, which appeared to have some sort of screen.

"May I ask what you are doing?" the femme inquired, stopping a small distance away. She was still worried of frightening the small human.

"I'm taking a picture." Kamellia answered. So the device was some sort of camera. It was small, but not as nearly convenient as the ones Cybertronians naturally had programmed in their processors.

"What are you photographing?"

"A Lamborghini Gallardo SE." The human stated happily. "I've wanted to get a picture for a while, but I doubt the owner's would like me hanging outside."

"It seems a little…expensive to be in this area." Quicksilver observed, already researching the car that stood just beyond a layer of glass. This site called 'Wikipedia' was already beginning to be very useful.

"I guess some really rich guy who lived in the area bought it. He sold it to the dealership right before he moved. Most people think it's because he might of lost a lot of money in the economy. But no one else can afford it, so it's just kind of sat here for a while." Kamellia explained, pocketing her camera device and looking up at Quicksilver. "Colors are kind of ugly though."

Quicksilver had to agree with the human on that. It appeared as though it used to be orange, based on the interior which was tailored to match the outside of the vehicle. However, it looked as though the previous owner had painted over the tangerine paint for a custom sage green and mustard yellow combination. Disgusting. Whoever he was, the owner had a horrible taste in colors.

The pattern of the two hues was not bad, and the car as a whole was _gorgeous_. It may have been slightly large for her frame, but Quicksilver had decided on which car she was going to scan. In a few nanokilks, she had the vehicle's specs and was already transforming, a new shell of armor beginning to cover her frame.

"Whoa! What the-!" Kamellia had been rather startled by the flurry of noises emitted from her companion as the femme practically _folded inwards on herself_. Soon enough, the human was staring at an exact replica of the Lamborghini still sitting inside the dealership.

Quicksilver shifted on her suspension a bit, familiarizing herself with her new alt. mode. She first wanted, however, to change that horrid paint job of hers. She activated her electronic paint to shift the colors to the ones she used to have on Cybertron. The electronic paint would take a while to fully set in and it was nowhere as good as a fresh coat of paint, but it would do for now.

Kamellia just stared dumbfounded, unsure on what had just occurred and how to react. She had just witnessed a giant, robotic alien change into a car, and watched as the paint shimmered and changed from green and yellow to purple and silver. Quicksilver had become a _car_.

"Is there any way that you're _not_ superior to us humans?" she asked.

Quicksilver did not answer, but merely opened her driver's side door, giving view to the black, and now silver, interior.

"Are you coming?" the femme asked, her voice emanating from the car.

"Where?" Kamellia asked back, staring at the door open in invitation.

"To find my brethren." 

* * *

><p>AN: Oooh, boy, I should have had this up weeks ago. I'm a terribly slow writer and there were quite a few days where I was unable to type this chapter up (which was originally going to be longer). I also saw DOTM and that put me in a mini-depression for a while. It was great, but I was sad about character deaths and it being the end of the movie-verse. I miss Mikaela :/ Carly didn't seem real enough to me.

Whatever. Reviews are loved!


	3. Travels

Thanks to **El' Caliente **for favoriting and to **Forever Dreaming Grace **and **Kaprikorn - Ancient Storm Lord** for alerting. Seriously, thanks. It means a lot 3

Disclaimer: Transformers owned by Hasbro

* * *

><p>.: Bystander Chapter 3: Travels :.<p>

The past hour to Kamellia seemed like it should have belonged to some fantasy world (or maybe science fiction would be more accurate). Had she fallen down the rabbit hole and not realized it? She looked around the interior of the Lamborghini again. She was sitting _inside_ an alien- a real-life extraterrestrial! Though the idea was rather strange, even unappealing at first; it was not every day that one sat inside another living being.

Looking back though, Kamellia couldn't help question her earlier judgments. True, she hadn't been vaporized on the spot like Hollywood aliens would have done, but she had trusted Quicksilver rather quickly. Probably way too quickly. Kamellia knew nothing about Quicksilver or her kind, and based on her size, she could possibly be dangerous.

But Quicksilver was interesting, too. Kamellia had always been curious and that was probably why she followed Quicksilver. Kamellia had always believed that other life forms existed out there _somewhere_ and now she was meeting one. And she wanted to know _everything_ about them.

Apparently Quicksilver wanted to know everything about Kamellia and her kind as well. The alien/robot/car had stated that her research on the World Wide Web although useful was not as much as she needed to know. Thus began her questioning of the young female currently sitting in her driver's seat. In turn, Kamellia was able to ask questions of her own once she had become more accustom to sitting inside Quicksilver. The two had traded questions until a small amount of silence lapsed in between them.

"Kamellia-" Quicksilver began before she was cut off by the human.

"Kai."

"What?"

"Call me Kai," Kamellia said. "Alost everyone does."

"Well then, Kai," the femme began for a second time, "I am going to ask you to refrain from contacting any of your kind about our meeting."

"Why?"

"Based on the information I have gathered, there seems to be nothing that shows my kind's existence on this planet. I am assuming that they are hiding their presence." Quicksilver explained. "I do not wish to spoil their efforts to remain concealed."

"'Kay." Kai agreed, before she realized something that the femme had said. "Wait, you mean there's more of you here on _Earth_?"

"Yes." Quicksilver confirmed. "I believe they have resided on this planet for two stellar cycles- about two and a half of your years."

"No way!"

"It is true."

"So then you're looking for more of you guys on Earth?" the girl asked excitedly.

"Yes." Quicksilver stated, although she was slightly confused. Hadn't she already said that? "What did you think I meant when I said 'To find my brethren'?"

"I dunno." Kai said matter-of-factly. "I thought maybe this was like an E.T.-phone-home or I-must-return-to-the-mothership kind of thing."

"No." the femme answered, although uncertain. She did not know what she was actually saying no to, Kai's references having lost their meaning to the alien.

"Oh." the girl said, slightly disappointed. There went her epic Hollywood movie scenario. No flying bicycles here (or maybe a car would better suit the situation). "So, why are you on Earth anyways?"

"There was a signal sent out calling us to Earth." Quicksilver began. "However, I am here to deliver some rather important information to our Prime."

"Prime?"

"I believe that is the correct translation. Primes are descendants of Primus. They are civilian and spiritual leaders of our kind and lead in conjunction with the Lord High Protector, who oversees the military."

"M'kay." Kai said. So their government was sort of like an oligarchy. She paused slightly before asking "Who's Primus?"

"Primus," Quicksilver began, having expected the question, "is our creator-god."

"You have a _god_?" the human asked in disbelief. She found it strange that a robot culture would believe in a god. But then again Quicksilver wasn't exactly an average Earth machine either.

"Yes." The femme confirmed. "Do humans not have one?"

"Uh," Kai began slowly. Wow, way to bring up a touchy subject. "It depends on who you ask."

A pause.

"I do not understand."

"Some people believe in God, some don't and others believe in different things like fairies or the Flying Spaghetti Monster." Kai stated. "People believe in different things."

"I see." Quicksilver said, beginning to comprehend the concept but not so much the examples Kai had given her. Apparently fairies were diminutive humans with wings and spaghetti was a human food made of cooked grain-made dough and organic vegetables (or was it a fruit?) made into a red sauce, often served with spheres of beef that had apparently once existed as an animal called a cow. Disgusting.

"It is…strange that you humans do not all believe in the same deity. I find the concept somewhat foreign."

"So then all of you believe in the same thing? Wow, that must be a whole lot easier to deal with. Less wars and stuff." Kai commented. A teacher of hers once had said that nearly all wars had started because of religion. Or at least the ones he could name. But it was true for the most part, and pretty sad when one thought about. All those wars because people couldn't get along. A major flaw in the human race.

"Just because we do have such divergences such as yours does not mean we do not disagree or fight wars." The femme replied tartly. The wars her kind had fought before she was sparked were terrible and the current civil war was no less dreadful. War was a rather sore topic for her and other remaining Cybertronians who were still alive.

"Um, sorry?" Kai winced. She'd made Quicksilver mad, hadn't she? But she didn't know what she had said to make her upset. "I didn't mean anything by it." She said, quiet and tentative, worrying that she would end making the femme bitterer.

"No, it is just…" Quicksilver sighed as she attempted her apology. "My kind is in the middle of a civil war." The femme did not miss how Kai stiffened in her seat, but continued speaking solemnly.

"This war has devastated our kind and made our home planet uninhabitable. Are numbers are mere fractions of what they were once before and we have lost the artifact that gives many of my kind our lives. We are in danger of losing our entire race."

"That's horrible." Kai said meekly, feeling almost like she was being insensitive commenting on something so terrible that she could not sympathize with. She was ignorant of warfare and its pains. What else could she say, though? "I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

"No, it is fine." Quicksilver sighed, before her voice adopted a much more sarcastic tone. "It's understandable to believe that a superior species such as my kind would not squabble over trivial concepts."

"Oh, ha ha." Kai responded. "Agh, the movies are true. All robots and aliens want to do is control humans."

"Slag, is that what you humans think of us?" the femme asked incredulously.

"Slag?" the human asked in turn. "What's that mean?"

"I believe that is my equivalent to your 'swear words'."

"Ooh, really? Tell me more!"

* * *

><p>The road was out of the way, long, and not a popular choice for traveling into Mission City. It was empty, save for the single yellow car speeding down the black stretch of pavement. It travelled well over the speed limit, but Bumblebee's sensors would warn him well in advance if a cop lay ahead.<p>

His two charges lounged in his front seats, neither paying attention to the road as Bumblebee took control of the driving this day. Sam was reclined as far back as his seat would allow, while Mikaela was looking at the silver camera she held in her hands.

The three had gone to a carnival several towns over and Mikaela had taken many pictures as she could with the camera she was currently holding. There were photos of her and Sam tasting the various treats the carnival had to offer, of Bumblebee's smiling, fair-haired holo-form, and even some of Bumblebee's bipedal form taken far away from the curious eyes of the those who didn't know that aliens walked among them.

There was a series of pictures of Bumblebee trying the carnival games with his holo-form. Although he had some trouble when he first began, Bumblebee managed to master most of the games by the end.

"It's nice to know that Autobots aren't any better at games than humans." Mikaela teased when she came across a picture of a very frustrated looking Bee at one of the shooting games.

"They purposely messed with the aim of the gun." Bumblebee pouted in his real voice, not through voice clips threaded together. Ratchet had finally managed to fix Bumblebee's vocal processor and, even though it wasn't necessarily a dire injury that needed to be fixed, it was still a much welcome change. Lyrics and voice clips, although they tried their best to understand, were often misinterpreted. It was much easier to actual say what one meant.

Most of the mechs, like Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet, were joyful to hear their scout speak again, many of the humans of NEST wanted to hear what Bumblebee sounded like, and Sam was excited to have a conversation with his guardian with his original voice.

Bumblebee was just happy to be able to _speak _again.

He was, however, slightly nervous at first, worried how others, the humans mostly, would react now that he could fully express himself. It was his self-doubt taking control of his meta, a bad habit he had since he was a youngling, constantly wondering how others perceived him. It was silly in hindsight. He did a fine job expressing himself with the tools he had, if he did say so himself. It wouldn't matter how he communicated if people got the same message in the end.

"You did great though, Bee!" Sam said. It was true. The Autobot did extremely well when he learned the in and outs of each game. He had gotten the enormous teddy bear that Sam was currently using as a body pillow and that had been dubbed Rufus by the mech who won. It was the first of many spoils.

Sam's largest win was a fluffy, white stuffed bunny-rabbit. He had given it (or her, as Mikeala said it was) to his girlfriend as a present. He would not say how much he spent trying to win it/her.

The three continued to talk of their adventure. Sam and Bumblebee talked animatedly about the roller coasters and rides with Mikeala adding her quips and teases to the reminiscing. The three were content, though, just sitting and speaking with one another. They were extremely close and happy just being with each other.

And then Bumblebee's comm. link activated.

* * *

><p>"So we're just waiting here for that guy you managed to contact."<p>

"Yes."

"And you have no idea if he's on your side or not."

"Correct."

"Awesome." Kai replied, voice full of sarcasm. She stared ahead, knees pulled to her chest with her elbows propped on top and her head cradled in her hands. She sat on Quicksilver's hood not wanting to be trapped inside the car, an extremely cool car, but a cramped one nonetheless. Kai received no objection to sitting on her companion except to remove her shoes to keep the dirt off of Quicksilver's hood.

The femme had managed to locate another of her kind, partially due to turning her sensors on high alert and mostly due to luck of proximity. She had managed only a few moments of contact before her communication system gave out. A previous injury she told Kai.

And so they waited. To see if some bot Quicksilver had barely made even contact with would happen to stop and say hello. Or open fire depending on his faction.

"We couldn't have been more northeast-ish, though?" Kai asked. "There could have been some cornfields to go run off and hide in." That was one thing about the route Quicksilver had chosen. It was unfavored by most travelers, as it was an indirect path to the city, which meant no strange looks at a sixteen-year-old with a Lamborghini, but the landscape however was very open. There were no places to hide if the situation called for it.

"Most Cybertronians are equipped with sensors. They could detect you even you were hidden from view." Quicksilver stated.

"Great." Kai groaned. "Thanks for instilling me with so much confidence."

"You're welcome."

Kai snorted. Both females appeared to have similar wavelengths of humor despite the difference in species. Even with their differences, like one being several thousand years older than the other, the two sort of clicked. Kai found it amazing really how an entirely different species could be so _human_. Though she couldn't argue much. A human-like alien was better than non-human-like one.

Silence lapsed between the two, as they stared ahead across the road at a thin line of trees off in the distance.

And they waited.

* * *

><p>AN: Ugh, two and half months later and you get a measely two thousand words. I wanted to get this done in July, but I went on vacation, moved my sister into her dorm room, and then school started and I've only had about three free Saturdays in the past month.

I doubt the next chapter will be done much sooner -_-


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